Hostages of Fate
by Jyostana
Summary: a moment of weakness caused Inuyasha and Kagome to be separated. Now, two years later, the two of them attempt to move on, but can either of them ever truly forget? And what about the shards? Without Kagome around to finish the jewel, will her time stay a
1. Chapter 1

**Prologue**

There are those who say we make our own lives, and that nothing can dictate any part of it besides ourselves. There are also those who would beg to differ. Those who think Fate has dealt them a certain hand. They can use their cards as they see fit, but they only have those cards to play with.

Kagome and Inuyasha were two of these people. Fate had brought them together, allowed them to skip over five hundred years into each other's lives. Both had been reluctant at first, but who could blame them? Inuyasha was convinced that Kagome was his last love, the girl who betrayed him once he placed all his faith in her. And Kagome? Well, Kagome saw her life pass before her eyes as Inuyasha ran after her, fangs bared and claws ready to strike.

But Fate gave them time to realize who each person was. Inuyasha was given someone who truly saw him for who he was, not what he was. He had a true companion, even if he didn't know how to treat her as such. Kagome was given a friend who was loyal, and wasn't caught up in the petty social life of modern day high school.

Fate had been good to them, they would both admit silently. But with all happiness comes the power to take it away.

One day, Fate did just that.


	2. Chapter 2

**Hey, this is my first fanfic….so, I hope you enjoy .;;**

**Standard disclaimers apply **

**Kagome's POV**

Two years…I smile ruefully as I look back on the festivities occurring behind me. Two years since I've last been attacked by a demon. The familiar flood of reluctant relief floods my veins at that thought as I leave for my now regular evening walk. Two years since I've had to stitch up any treacherous wounds, or watch helplessly as my friends were injured in the heat of battle. I look up when I finally reach my destination: The God Tree. My left arm begins to rise, as if of its own accord, to trace the familiar scar that the old tree bares. When my fingers brushed across the bark, my other hand left its position at my side to brush my collarbone, expecting to grasp a thin chain that held a precious jewel. Instead, my fingers are met with only soft flesh, and I am compelled to glance at my wrist. I only wear one piece of jewelry constantly these days, and I step away from the God Tree so that I can bring my hands together and fondle the beads and teeth that lay innocently on my wrist. '_Inuyasha…_' The soft clinking the beads make at my caress is a small reminder to what once was…Small, but enough.

I turn and head to the well house, as I do every night. I can feel my mother's eyes on my back. She worries about me more each day it seems. She no longer tries to prevent me from visiting the well though. She used to argue with me so much about what I was doing…what decisions I had made. The worst was when I got my college acceptance letter...

**Flashback**

_I let the paper slip from my fingers. I had made it in? How?...Why aren't I happy about it? My Mom walked into the kitchen, carrying various brown bags with her from the store when she saw me._

"_honey?" She inquired, concern lacing her voice, "Are you alright?"_

_I somehow managed to make a strangled sound in the back of my throat and nod towards the paper lying on the counter. Mom spared me a strange look before grasping the sheet and lifting it slowly to her gaze. When she put it down she had tears in her eyes. _

"_You did it…"_

_As those words passed her lips, my face crumpled and tears fell from my eyes in rivers. I couldn't quite place why I was crying exactly…happiness that my hard work paid off, relief in knowing I still had a place here. But there was sadness, a kind that ripped pieces of your heart viciously from your soul. I didn't want this. I didn't want a place here. I wanted to be flying…I wanted to feel the wind whipping my face as I fell from the sky. I wanted to sit around a camp fire and tell stories…I wanted to sing a little kitsune to sleep each night, while being protected by my best friend. What was I doing here? My last thought knocked me from my nostalgic state, and I blinked rapidly._

"_I…I have to go…I can't be here…" I took a shaky step forward, then another until I was sprinting towards the well house. I had all but shoved my mother out of the way in my haste._

"_KAGOME!" She yelled, having finally recovered from my abuse, "you cannot keep doing this! Do you hear me?" I paused at this, my breathing ragged in an attempt to control my emotions._

"_I need to see him, mom…I need…I need to tell him" I turned my head to look at her over my shoulder, and I could visibly see her steel herself for what she was about to say._

"_If you go to that well, Kagome, I will have it torn down. You can't do this anymore! You have a life here. You need to go to college….find a husband. Leave this house. You need to make a life, Kagome. You're wasting away here" She took a deep breath, and I swore I saw her tremble slightly. "You will confirm that you will be attending college, and you will never enter that well house again. If I see you near it I WILL tear it down."_

_I had turned around fully by this point, and I could only stare at her in disbelief while I tried to gather my thoughts. _

"_Mom…I need to do this. Please understand…" I gazed at her pleadingly. I didn't have the will to fight anymore…There wasn't anything worth fighting for. _

"_Kagome, you have family here! How can you even consider leaving us? You're being selfish" A single tear seeped from my mother's eye. She suddenly looked so old…like she had seen so much life. We had been arguing a lot lately, all about me…my eating habits, my newfound love of being a hermit. I tried to feel compassionate, and to an extent I did, but it was so hard to care about anything anymore._

"_I have family there too" And with that I ran the rest of the way to the well house, and jumped._

**End Flashback**

I had stayed down there for two weeks. I felt so lost. I knew it was useless, but as I was falling in the darkness, I had fooled myself into hoping that maybe, just maybe, this time would be different. I ended up landing harshly back in cruel reality with a sickening thud, but I couldn't make myself leave the bottom of that well. I told myself to close my eyes and look up, and if I tried hard enough I would see the clear blue sky. When that didn't work I thought 'Inuyasha will come'…and I wanted to be there when he did. So I waited, scratched marks into the side of the well so I knew how long I was there….and then, I gave up. My Mom didn't have the heart to take the well down after all, and once I came back, the arguments ceased. I still got veiled glances of desperation from her each time I headed in the direction of the well house, but I couldn't stop myself. I still can't.

I never answered that acceptance letter, but I applied to a different college in the States a few months ago. My mom thought it was best I leave this place in its entirety. I never want to leave these memories…this tree; Things that I can touch and know that he could have done so too, at some point in the past. I will be leaving all of this in four months…and I'm scared.

I finally make my way inside the well house, and perch on the edge of the well, looking down. Staring down into the darkness brings me peace sometimes. Other times it wrecks havoc on my already fragile grasp on my life. But I keep coming back…

My fingers pick up the familiar rhythm of rubbing back and forth across the surface of the beads on my bracelet. _'Inuyasha…'_ I glance downward one last time before straightening myself and righting my clothes. The short walk to the doors is painful and time seems to slow in order to mock me, as it always does in these moments. I spare the well one last glance before shutting the doors softly and turning to head back to the house.

Two years….

'_Where are you?'_

**I'm sure you all know the drill. Click the button! And be honest )**


	3. Chapter 3

**Standard Disclaimers apply**

They knew where to find him. "Inuyasha's Forest" was finally living up to its name. He never really left the area by the well. The furthest he went was Kaede's hut, and even those visits were short and very rare. The inhabitants of that village would often describe him as a lost soul when they happened to catch a glimpse of him. He seemed to have lost his fighting spirit. To his friends though, he was just heartbroken.

Fate hated him, or so he had concluded. He was given hope when he had met Kikyo. Because human compassion was a thing unknown to him, he assumed his feelings for Kikyo meant he loved her. Perhaps they had at the time. And if not, well, he was content just to be with her. But then it was all taken away from him, and he was left to think she had betrayed him. But, he was given a second chance at happiness

She had entered his life and everything had changed. He found himself actually _wanting_ to be around her. He knew he was always a pain when she wanted to leave, but it was for no other reason than he was afraid she would finally realize what he was and never return. He often got angry with himself when those thoughts came unbidden into his mind. Kagome would never turn her back on him because of his heritage….right?

She stuck with him through thick and thin, even when he was being difficult. She would smile in a way that only Kagome could, and he knew that somehow she had understood. She never tried to dissuade him from his planned use of the jewel, even when they were coming surprisingly close to completing it…

And, that's when he failed her.

**Flashback**

_Inuyasha smirked as Shippo ran away, screaming for Kagome at the top of his lungs._

"_Kagome! Kagome! Inuyasha's gonna kill meee!" The end of his last word grew into a squeal as Inuyasha swiped at his tail_

"_That's right runt," Inuyasha growled out, "You're gonna pay for that last stunt"_

_Shippo began to flail around, begging for Kagome's help. She sighed as she finished climbing out of the well and took in the scene playing out before her._

"_Inuyasha?" She questioned sweetly, and had to smile at how his eyes widened in terror._

"_Kagome, c'mon plea-"_

"_Sit" She winced slightly as she heard the telltale 'thunk' of Inuyasha's body being driven into the ground"_

"_Goddamned wench…" He mumbled, having long learned the art of cursing without getting a mouthful of dirt. While still being held immobile by his spell-induced subduing, he smelled a faint change in the air; One he wasn't sure he liked. _

_His ears swiveled towards Kagome as she let out a soft gasp._

"_Inuyasha! I sense a jewel shard…coming straight toward us...No, wait….there's four!" Kagome began to get excited. It was the kind of excitement that can only come with the knowledge of danger, and what will be rewarded if they survive. There was only one problem that was being overlooked._

_Inuyasha was incapable of movement for a little while yet, and the bird youkai was approaching** fast**._

**End Flashback**

He would later say he faintly remembered hearing the whoosh of the youkai's wings beating in the air, but the one sound that would never leave him would be the sound of Kagome's scream.

The youkai had gone straight for the jewel shards, stretching its deadly claws out towards her neck. He had fought against his subduing spell harder than he fought for anything, and it had finally let up. But, even his speed wasn't enough.

Kagome had shifted enough so that the youkai's claws sunk into her right shoulder, and she was knocked backwards as she let out a painful yelp. The youkai's claw had managed to snag the slim chain around her neck, and it snapped as it was pulled, the container holding the jewel falling helplessly to the ground. Inuyasha rushed to her, to try and protect her against another attack that had already begun to be executed. Her knees knocked against the edge of the bone-eaters well just as he reached out for her, but he was a second too late. She reached out as a last effort to find something to hold onto, but her fingers only caught the rosary, which snapped as gravity pulled her down.

The last time he saw her, she was yelling his name, falling into the dark abyss of the well surrounded by old beads and teeth.

**Inuyasha's POV**

"Damnit!"

I glanced at my latest path of destruction, and rubbed at my bloody knuckles. At first, working myself until I was exhausted gave me peace. Now, it only brings me greater bouts of depression.

The moment replays in my mind every second…..if only I hadn't been messing around that day…..if only I had been faster. If only I was better…._she'd still be here._

I tried going down that damn well as soon as she had, but I was only met with the soil in the Warring States Era.

I think I lost my mind at that point, even with Tetsuaiga. I remember being in the well, and then I remember adding the four shards to our collection and jumping back in the well to retrieve Kagome. The only thing was, the well wouldn't let me.

I tried for weeks, thinking that maybe her grandpa had found ofudas that managed to work. I figured if that was true, Kagome would have them removed. But, the well still refused to take me to her, and so I stopped trying.

When I finish the jewel, I should be able to ask Midoriko what happened. So I wait. I don't have to travel very far, or look hard. The jewel is so near to being completed so the demons come straight to me, hungry for more shards. I know I will have to go after Naraku, and I will. Alone...

I jump up to my perch in the God Tree, overlooking the well, and I feel a part of me crack even more. I want to be angry with her for leaving me, but I can't. It's probably better anyway. I don't have to worry about her when I'm fighting anymore.

"Feh"….who needs a nosey wench around anyway?

Two years…

'_Where are you?'_

I blink in surprise. Where had that voice come from?

'…_Kagome?'_

But it's gone, just like that. And I curse myself again for my foolishness, glancing down at the well one more time before retreating into my solitude.

'_Two years…and I still miss you'_

**Click the button! You know you want to…**

**I realize it's really slow moving right now, but I wanted to establish a background on both sides of the well before I start contemplating a plot and twists .;;**

**AN: Updates from now on will be dependent on feedback and time I have with work and school**


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